3 Top Books for Summer Beach Reading

Summer is here, and as the Beach Boys say, the time is right.

"Right for what?" you ask.

Time for some serious lounging on a sandy shore with a glowing yellow and orange orb firing up your melatonin for a nice, glowing summertime tan. After lathering on some sunscreen, chilling your favorite beverage, adult or otherwise, and taking that last long sigh of workspace air out of the deepest corners of your lungs, what do you do now to get your full-on chillax on? How about firing up the old imagination and diving into a couple of hundred pages of bliss to wile away the hours until cocktail time?

I'm a serious reader, but I'm an even more serious relaxer. Here are my top three books, which any reader would be crazy for not at least reading the book jacket to see if they're worthy of their summer perusal. These books aren't in any order or rhyme or reason, just three great books for the beach.

Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen

Aright, I'm an uber-male when it comes to most of my reading choices; however, I can't pass up an all-time favorite. But who can pass up little Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy? Better yet, a book which opens with arguably one of the best sentences written in the English language:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Pride and Prejudice is the quintessential girl-from-across-the-tracks meets rich, handsome young man. Through pratfall, after Lizzie made pratfall, the two roving lovers find each other and ride, or walk, off into the sunset. One will never be left wrong once they fall into the world of Lizzie Bennet.

The DaVinci Code -- Dan Brown

Quick, easy, fast-paced read and so 2007, but worth every page-turning plot twist and hhhmmm factor. Although the cottage industry Mr Brown spawned with his excellently, but not quite scholarly, researched tales has lead to Angels and Demons and The Lost Symbol and a smattering of copycats or decoders, DaVinci Code just has that something to it. Even if you've read it, it's best to go back and read it again. Because let's face the guilty pleasure we all want to think there is something out there unexplainable and Mr. Brown has offered a plausible and fun tale to figure it out.

The Devil's Teeth -- Susan Casey

Casey's Devil's Teeth may not be the best book to read if you're on the ocean, but for the avid reader it is a great piece of creative non-fiction that should've won more accolade. The Devil's Teeth is Casey's version of spending a fall with the researchers who study the Great White Sharks of the Farallone Islands off the Monterrey-San Francisco coast. Pardon the pun, but Casey jumps right in and explores some of the self-immersive journalism that would make even that Gonzo author, Hunter S. Thompson applaud. Devil's Teeth is a must read, and it will never disappoint the reader who enjoys a good and eventful tale.